[mou] Ruff-Meeker county

[Dennis/Barbara Martin]

Actually a female juvenile Reeve.  In the rapidly drying area one mile west
of Cedar Mills and 75 yards north of Highway 7, about 10:45 am today.  While
looking at the bird a group of Geese flew in and disrupted all the
shorebirds causing them to fly around and land in slightly different areas.
After they landed the Reeve was not to be seen but we suspect another wet
spot in the area will gather the bird and it may return to this area.

A rather strange looking bird.  Look for a bird that is very slightly
smaller than a Lesser Yellowlegs but with very bright orange-yellow (almost
deep orange-gold) legs.  The area from the throat to just in front of the
legs was a buffy-yellow color.  The lower you went on the bird the darker
the color became.  The rest of the underside of the bird was white.  This
color is what attracted us in the first place.  Very obvious anywhere in the
clearing.  The bill was shorter than a Lesser Yellowlegs but definitely
longer than the Pectoral Sandpipers also in attendance.  Probably about as
heavy as the Pectorals.  The back and folded wings are much neater than you
would see on the accompanying Lesser Yellowlegs.  Very dark (maybe black in
the case of most of the feathers and dark brown in a minority of the
feathers) centers to the feathers with pale edges.  This was even visible
with 10 power binoculars and my camera lens.

The bird did not always stay with the yellowlegs and pectorals but wandered
around the drier areas where the Least Sandpipers were more common.  We were
able to study the bird for some 20 minutes and hopefully some good photos
were obtained.

Dennis and Barbara Martin
dbmartin@skypoint.com